


We Can Make A Little Family Of Our Own

by The_Consulting_Werewolf



Category: BLACKPINK (Band), EXO (Band), VIXX
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Romance, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-09-20 17:16:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9502073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Consulting_Werewolf/pseuds/The_Consulting_Werewolf
Summary: Do Kyungsoo is a busy man, and he has his life planned out for him. But then, his ex gets someone pregnant.Oh Sehun finds out his best friend is pregnant, and he is determined to end the guy's life. He didn't plan on the guy being short and so cute though.Kim Jisoo is too young for this shit, and being pregnant doesn't make anything better. Then she realises her silly little crush is becoming something more.Lee Jaehwan just wants to help, and be a good friend. However, life doesn't go as we plan.





	1. Do Kyungsoo: The Cliche Broken

What Kyungsoo likes doing on Sunday mornings is very cliché, painfully so. He wakes up an hour later than the usual time, makes pancakes, drinks his coffee and goes out for grocery shopping. He may catch up with his friends, then come back home, curl on his couch with his two-year-old corgi named Biscuits and watch a movie or two. Then, when night would fall he may go out again, and his boyfriend of a year and half may meet him and they would go out for a date or something. He would then return home and if Taemin doesn’t come with him, he would take out a book and read it till he falls asleep.

What Kyungsoo doesn’t like doing on Sunday mornings is this: confronting his boyfriend—soon-to-be ex-boyfriend—about the girl he saw making out with him this Friday. Now, he knows Taemin is bisexual. But what he doesn’t know is that he had been cheating on Kyungsoo for the last few months (Yoongi dropped the bomb on him when he went to him in tears this Friday).

As Kyungsoo walks towards the door to Taemin’s apartment, which is ajar, he is alarmed by a screaming female voice coming from inside. He peeks in to find a young girl with tears in her eyes screaming at his not-boyfriend.

“You got me pregnant you asshole!” the girl shouts at Taemin, who looks on with an extremely bored face. Like he rather be somewhere else than here.

Kyungsoo takes a step back and takes a deep breath. Okay then. Taemin also got a girl pregnant, a very pretty girl at that. He hears Taemin say something, but honestly, he cannot hear anything above the pounding in his head.

Suddenly, the door opens and the girl rushes out, still crying, and she doesn’t even notice Kyungsoo standing there. Taemin follows after her, but he sees Kyungsoo. And his eyes widen rather comically. He asks, fear prominent in his voice, “Soo? H-how long have you been here?”

Kyungsoo collects himself and tries to remember what Yoongi told him (“Fuck Taemin, I always hated him anyway. A man with that wide a smile can never be trusted.”). He squares his shoulder and says, “Long enough.”

Taemin reaches for him, “Look Soo, that was a misunderstanding, I can explain.”

“Oh?” Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow and thinks back o what his other best friend said (Hongbin handed him a glass of whiskey and said, “You are cute Soo, you will find someone better who is not a complete asshole like Taemin.”). “You can explain why you had your tongue down the throat of a girl this Friday at Chaos, but I rather not know. We are done.”

Taemin grabs Kyungsoo by the elbow, but the latter throws him off with all his strength. He walks away as Taemin calls for him, begs him to listen. Kyungsoo has had enough, his friends had told him time and time again to not trust Taemin, but he never gave two fucks about it. Look where that got him now.

As he runs outside, glad to feel the late afternoon sunshine on his skin, he hears someone sobbing behind him. He turns his head and finds the girl who stomped out of Taemin’s apartment sitting on the curb, crying her eyes out.

Now, Kyungsoo may look like a serial killer when he squints, but he is actually the world’s greatest squish. He has a big heart and he finds it hard to say no (part of why he stuck around with Taemin for so long). So, when he sees the young girl curled up on herself on the curb crying her poor heart out, he instantly takes pity on her.

Kyungsoo crouches down beside her and puts his hand on her shoulder. The girl flinches and turns to look at him, and he was right, she is rather very pretty with warm brown eyes, pouty lips and smooth skin. Even the tear tracks on her face don’t diminish her beauty. Also the broken, forlorn look in her eyes tugs at Kyungsoo’s sympathy and he finds himself asking, “You okay?”

“You were in front of that douchebag’s apartment, weren’t you?” she asks.

Oh, so she did notice. Kyungsoo nods, “Yes.”

“Are you his friend?”

“No,” Kyungsoo says through clenched teeth. “I am his boy—no I was his boyfriend five minutes ago.”

The girl’s eyes go wide in surprise. She gasps, “He cheated on you with me?”

Kyungsoo scoffs. “I think he cheated on me with plenty others.”

The girl screams and pulls at her hair. “I am such an idiot!”

“So am I,” Kyungsoo muses and scowls. At least he isn’t pregnant with that douchebag’s kid.

The girl takes a few deep breaths. “I am Kim Jisoo.”

“Do Kyungsoo.” He eyes her closely, now realising she has pyjamas on and her hair looks oily. She probably found out this morning and came rushing to Taemin’s apartment. “Um, Jisoo-sshi, I have a car, do you want me to drop you somewhere?”

The girl laughs, but there is no happiness in it, just bitterness. “Drop me somewhere? Drop me at the river so I can drown myself.”

Kyungsoo gets startled. “I don’t want to witness your suicide, thank you very much.”

Jisoo laughs again, equally bitter like before. “I cannot go back to my dorm. I am pregnant. And I am only twenty-one!” Then she starts crying again.

Kyungsoo squeezes her shoulder and mentally curses his ex-boyfriend for ruining two lives in one fell swoop. Since his heart is swamped with sadness and guilt, he says, “You know what, come with me okay? I run a restaurant and maybe we can get you to something to eat?”

Jisoo nods. “I haven’t had anything to eat since last night.”

Kyungsoo is touted as the mom of his group, and it is a justified title. So, as soon as Jisoo utters the words, he gets flustered. “Nothing since last night? That is terrible! I am taking you with me, come on!”

Jisoo rubs her face, her sweatshirt sleeves too long for her, and Kyungsoo’s heart falls when he realises that she is too young for this mess. He helps her get to her feet and they silently walk to his car.

They don’t speak throughout the ride, though Jisoo starts crying again. And she keeps crying as Kyungsoo helps her out of the car, then into the restaurant through the front door. He sees Chanyeol raising his eyebrows as they make their way through the kitchen; Kyungsoo answers his silent question with a firm shake of his head. He places Jisoo on a chair inside his office and runs back to the kitchen to quickly make her some food.

Kyungsoo is the proud owner of Cloud 9, a trendy multicuisine restaurant and bar that has become quite the favourite place for couples and the young with money in general. Kyungsoo inherited the place from his mother, who singlehandedly ran the place for over a decade before retiring early and putting Kyungsoo in charge (no, she wanted to focus more on her hobbies and was simply waiting for her son to graduate college—that is what Kyungsoo strongly believes). Kyungsoo quickly made some changes to appeal to a younger generation, while still catering to the older ones. The building is three storeys, Kyungsoo lives on the ground floor while the restaurant takes up the first floor and the bar the third.

The restaurant is about to open for brunch, a Sunday special that they started three years ago, so Kyungsoo is thankful they already had a bunch of food ready to serve. Chanyeol, his head chef and close friend is flipping a frittata on to a plate when Kyungsoo snatches the plate away, grabs some bread and runs back to his office, as Chanyeol shouts, “Do Kyungsoo what the fuck?”

Kyungsoo returns to the office to find Jisoo curled up on the floor, which sends the man into early cardiac arrest, almost. Thinking she fainted from hunger, Kyungsoo places the food on his desk and crouches down beside her. He touches her head and is relieved when she moves and sits back up again. There is snot running down her nose as she says, “Sorry. I just realised I have a baby inside me and I don’t know what to do with it.”

Kyungsoo rubs her back and pulls her up to her feet. “We can figure that out, but food first.”

Jisoo eyes the omelette and sniffles, “What is that?”

“A frittata I think,” Kyungsoo frowns down at the plate.

“I like eggs,” Jisoo says as she sits down on the chair and cuts a tiny piece from the frittata. She takes a tentative bite and smiles. “Oh, this is tasty!”

Kyungsoo smiles and sits down on the chair beside her. He says, “I will pass the compliments to the chef.”

Jisoo rubs her eye and next rips the bread and puts a larger slice of the stuffed omelette on it. She gulps it down and nods. “Thank you, I was very hungry.”

Kyungsoo chuckles and stands up. He peeks out of his office and finds Yifan walking with a crate of Prosecco. He shouts, “Hey Yifan!”

The tall bartender looks at his boss and says, “Yes?”

“Can you get someone to bring me a glass of juice?”

“What kind of juice? And you don’t drink juice.”

Kyungsoo makes a face at his employee, and friend, and looks back inside his office. Jisoo had demolished half of the frittata. Kyungsoo asks, “Jisoo? What kind of juice do you like?”

Jisoo looks over her shoulders with her cheeks stuffed and says, “Orandt.”

Kyungsoo nods and shouts back to Yifan, “Orange!”

Yifan eyes him suspiciously but walks back to the kitchen to find someone. Kyungsoo returns to take his seat by Jisoo. She has finished her food and is picking up at the crumbs. She shifts in her seat. “Kyungsoo-sshi, you are too kind.”

Kyungsoo frowns. “Kind?”

“Yeah,” Jisoo tucks a piece of hair behind her ear and says. “I am pregnant with your boyfriend’s child and yet, here you are, feeding me delicious things. If I were you, I think I would never do such things.”

Kyungsoo huffs and smiles bitterly. “First of all, my mother taught me to be nice to strangers, especially if they are hungry. And secondly, Taemin is now my ex-boyfriend.”

There is a knock on the door, interrupting them. Kyungsoo says, “It’s open.”

The door opens to Taeyong, one of their new waiters, holding a tray with a glass of orange juice in it. Kyungsoo takes the tray from the young man and Taeyong bows, and keeps standing there, blinking. Kyungsoo frowns and palms his face. “Taeyong, how many times do I have to tell you that you don’t have to wait around for me to dismiss you.”

The boy grins sheepishly before quickly making his exit. Kyungsoo shakes his head and sits down again. He hands Jisoo the orange juice, which the girl takes from him gratefully and almost finishes it in one gulp. She puts down the glass and says, “I took the test this morning. I used three kits and all of them were positive.”

Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow. “Oh? That’s…well.”

“Yeah,” Jisoo slumps down on her seat. “And if you ask how I know it is Taemin’s, then that’s easy. I was a virgin before I met Taemin. And he is the only guy I had sex with since my first time.”

Kyungsoo’s jaw clenches and he fists his hands. “Since your first time?”

Jisoo realises her folly and gasps. “Oh shit! I am so sorry, I had no idea he had a boyfriend—”

“Of course,” Kyungsoo exhales and rubs his temples. “I know that. He probably convinced you he was single.”

Jisoo bites her lips and nods her head. “Yeah. When I met him for the first time at the club, he was alone and hitting on the bartender. Then he was hitting on me and he was kinda cute, so…”

“You couldn’t resist yourself?” Kyungsoo scoffs. “That sounds awfully familiar. I met him at a club as well.” In retrospect, Kyungsoo would like to go back and strangle past-Kyungsoo for ever falling for that wide grin and sexy smirk and the way his body moved when he danced…

Jisoo sighs and palms her face. “I was so stupid…I let him fuck me twice thinking he might ask me out on that date someday. You know what he said when I told him I was pregnant? He said he doesn’t care, get it aborted or something!” She throws her hand and angry tears spill from her eyes as she cries, “I mean, the fuck? Now that I realise there is a tiny human growing inside me, I kind of feel like a criminal for thinking about killing it? I am not anti-abortion or anything, but before coming here I went online and the abortion clinics are shady as fuck. What if I bleed out on the bed and die? Or get a STD? Also, abortion is actually illegal here? So shady clinics are my only way? And I don’t know why I want to keep it anyway! My parents are super-duper conservative! If they get to know, I am dead! DEAD!”

Kyungsoo realises she has become hysteric, so he grabs her and holds her against him as he rubs her back soothingly to calm her down. Jisoo keeps crying on his shoulder. He says, having made his decision a second ago, “Look, you can stay with me till you figure out what you want to do, okay?”

Jisoo looks up from his shoulder and scrunches her nose. “Are you sure? Even though I am the whore that broke you two up?”

Kyungsoo chuckles. “The relationship was headed for the end anyway and you are not a whore. Naïve maybe, but not a whore.”

“Naïve?” Jisoo leans back. “I am the biggest idiot to ever exist!”

Kyungsoo grins and shakes his head. “So?”

Jisoo wipes the tears and snot running down her face and nods his head. “I think this will be better. I room with my best friend and he doesn’t know. I don’t know how to tell him and I was glad he wasn’t home when I took the test. Once I figure things out, I will be out of your hair.”

“That’s okay. I just want to help you...I feel responsible for some weird reason,” Kyungsoo pouts and tucks his chin on his chest.

Jisoo feels sad and silly, and murderous (towards Taemin). She can tell Kyungsoo has a big heart and he just wants to rectify the mistakes of his former boyfriend. And she needs to think about her situation as well. “Kyungsoo-sshi, please. You don’t have to.”

“I know, I know,” Kyungsoo hides his face in his palms and takes a few deep breaths.

“I am grateful though.”

Kyungsoo looks back at her and smiles. Jisoo cannot help but smile back at the heart-shaped grin (mentally she coos at him and wonders how Taemin could even cheat on his cute boyfriend). “I will accept your gratitude if you call me oppa though. Kyungsoo-sshi makes me feel like a ahjussi!”

Jisoo laughs. “Okay oppa!”


	2. Kim Jisoo: The Girl Who Sleeps With Mr Kronk

Jisoo takes in her new surroundings in muted awe. Kyungsoo had given her a brief introduction about himself, and she had thought that being a rich restaurateur and all, he would be extravagant and his rooms will probably be too opulent and gaudy. But to her surprise, it is painfully normal.

First, they make their way downstairs from his office in the restaurant, down the stairs at the back. The door to his apartment opens to a short foyer with wooden floors and a single bench, on top which hangs a round mirror. By the bench sits a potted plant and Jisoo is no expert, but she thinks it is some sort of a fern. From the foyer is a short corridor that ends in a comfy-looking living room on the left and a kitchen-cum-dining space on the right. Further down the hallway Jisoo spots four doors, which she reckons must be rooms.

The living room is in the east and the sun is crawling towards the west, so the light coming through the open blinds on the glass sliding doors is mellow. There is a fireplace, besides which is a cabinet, on which rests a flat-screen television and a mountain of DVDs, and a painting of a dog. The rug underneath the elliptical coffee table seems like something her grandmother would choose from a flea market. The room is completed with a big enough leather sofa and two smaller chairs. The rug catches her eye and the other thing that attracts her attention is a painting of the Eiffel tower hanging on top of the fireplace. Jisoo smiles, “That is a nice painting.”

Kyungsoo grins, “My friend is an artist. He gifted me that, and also the one of my dog.” He points at the painting that she had previously spotted on the TV cabinet.

Jisoo says in delight, “You have a dog? Where?”

Kyungsoo chuckles, “I think he must be napping, hold up.” He starts shouting, “Biscuits! Biscuits? Come here boy!”

There is a sound of scuffling from one of the rooms and soon Jisoo can hear the sound of small paws hitting the wooden floor in a consistent pitter-patter. The steps come closer and Jisoo has a heart attack from all the cute as the fluffiest Corgi ever barges into the living room.

Biscuits initially wanted to welcome his human first, but then he gets distracted by the other new human. He bounds towards Jisoo and puts his front paws below her knees. Jisoo coos, “Oh my god, you are so cute! And fluffy!” She kneels and pets Biscuits, and Biscuits is very enthusiastic to meet someone new. He yelps in happiness while Jisoo keeps cooing to him. Kyungsoo watches the exchange with much amusement (and a tinge of disappointment at being ignored by Biscuits).

Biscuits is busy licking Jisoo’s face when Kyungsoo kneels beside Jisoo to receive some love from his pet. Biscuits finally registers the presence of his human and barks softly at him before jumping up to place his front paws on Kyungsoo’s knees. He receives a pat and kiss on his head, and he thinks it is enough, so he turns his attention to Jisoo again. Kyungsoo half-frowns, half-smiles. He says, “He seems to like you very much.”

“Oh? Well, I like him very much too!” Jisoo laughs as she starts playing with Biscuits.

Kyungsoo gets to his feet and shakes his head as he laughs. “Do you wish to get settled in though?”

“Oh yes,” Jisoo too gets to her feet as Biscuits growls in displeasure. “Biscuits is adorable!”

“Don’t say such things, it might inflate his ego,” Kyungsoo grins and narrows his eyes at Biscuits, who huffs and wags his tail as if feeling greatly vindicated. Jisoo laughs at the short, stumpy, fluffy tail wagging.

Kyungsoo then proceeds to show Jisoo all four rooms (Biscuits too volunteers to jump and bark as they go through each room), one of which is his bedroom, saying he would give it to her if it pleases her. Now, Jisoo doesn’t really care how her room looks like, but the grey walls, white blinds, grey blanket, and grey mattress of Kyungsoo’s room sort of depresses her (also she is amazed at his kindness and she doesn’t want to impose), so she politely declines. Sure, his room got the most light during the daytime, yet Jisoo chose the room opposite to his which had a nice four poster bed, ecru walls and nice cherry wood cabinet beside the bed. The room even has a little balcony of sorts. She steps out and is amazed to see a small yard of sorts. Kyungsoo comes to stand beside her and says, “I hope this is okay.”

Jisoo shakes her head and grins, “This is more than okay, this is too kind and—”

Kyungsoo chuckles, “You can stop you know. I am fine with this.”

Jisoo’s grin drops as she sighs. “How can you be?”

Kyungsoo presses her shoulder and says, “Because this is not your fault. You liked him too much and he fucked you over. And that is what happened to me as well, so we are kindred, maybe?”

Jisoo sighs again and fights the tears. “I am sorry oppa, I probably ruined everything—”

Kyungsoo pulls her close and hugs her. “There, you can cry and this is not your fault. I think, deep down I knew Taemin was bad for me. I don’t know why I persisted.”

Jisoo starts sobbing again and this time, she winds her arms around Kyungsoo’s waist as she cries, cherishing the warmth and comfort from this stranger. She had never expected to trust someone so much, that too when she only knows him for less than a day, but there is something about Kyungsoo that tells her she will be okay. She murmurs into his shoulder, “Thank you anyway.”

Kyungsoo grabs her shoulder to pull her away from him. He smiles down at her and says, “Now, you look like you need to sleep and shower and eat. So what about we do that and talk later when you are rested?”

Jisoo wipes her nose and nods. Then her eyes widen. “But…I don’t have anything to wear!”

Kyungsoo nods. “No problem. We can go to your apartment to get your things, if you are up for it?”

Jisoo wipes her eyes with her sleeves and says, “Yes, let’s go.”

 

Jisoo opens the door to her apartment and winces. She should be better at cleaning but whenever Sehun isn’t around, she manages to turn into an uncouth caveman with no regards for hygiene. So, when she stubs her toe on a pizza box on the floor, she desperately wishes Kyungsoo didn’t see her kicking it away.

The apartment she shared with her best friend since birth, Oh Sehun, is small yet cozy and the pipes work. So, what else could two almost-broke-every-month students need? She took the one bedroom while Sehun camped out on the living room, on the futon. Jisoo tells all this to Kyungsoo who grimaces at the pile of unwashed dishes in the kitchen sink. Deep down, he itches to start cleaning them just like he ends up cleaning Yoongi’s apartment at times.

Jisoo enters her room to pack some clothes while Kyungsoo ambles around the house. The coffee table was lost under papers and books—he shakes his head at that. The futon is beside the fridge and his eyes fall on the photographs stuck to it with magnets. He spots Jisoo in a photograph, where she is posing on a beach; he smiles at that, reckoning she must be fifteen or sixteen in the photograph. Then he sees another photo of her and a tall guy with pale skin and a small pink mouth. Kyungsoo wonders if this is Oh Sehun; he internally agrees that he is quite handsome.

He sees another photo of Jisoo standing between two tall men, her arms around both of their necks. He recognises one of them as Sehun, and the other man is very handsome as well.

“That’s Jaehwan oppa, Sehun’s cousin, but they are more like real brothers. Oppa is my good friend as well. I think he is as old as you,” Jisoo says, who had come to stand beside Kyungsoo just when he was inspecting the photo in question.

“Oh,” Kyungsoo looks back at Jisoo and his gaze immediately drops to the blue teddy bear in Jisoo’s arms. He points at that. “What’s that?”

Jisoo grins as she shows him the toy. The stuffed blue teddy bear is scowling and his curly mouth is turned down, and his coat seems like it has been through some wash cycles. “This is Mr Kronk, Jaehwan-oppa gave it to me a few birthdays back.”

Kyungsoo pats Mr Kronk’s head and smiles, “Is he coming with us?”

Jisoo says in a small voice, “Yes.” She looks down at the wooden floor and grimly chuckles, “Hilarious, isn’t it? A girl who sleeps with her stuffed toy still is having a baby?”

Kyungsoo takes the bag Jisoo was carrying from her and swings it over his shoulder. He puts both of his hands on her shoulders and says, “I promised to help you, didn’t I? Can you believe me Jisoo?”

Jisoo looks up at Kyungsoo and his sincerity shines through his eyes and clogs her throat up. She fights back her tears and smiles, “I don’t deserve your help oppa.”

“We all deserve some help when we need it,” Kyungsoo smiles as he squeezes her shoulders.

Jisoo nods her head and rubs her face. She tries to believe what Kyungsoo said, even though her stomach turns and the future seems quite grim to her.

 

Kyungsoo comes back home with Jisoo and they start putting her things in the wardrobe in her room. Just as Kyungsoo is taking out a huge red blanket (a gift from his mother) from the lowest shelf in the wardrobe, the doorbell rings. He rushes out and when he opens the doors, he is surprised to find his three best friends standing. Yoongi yawns as he enters, Hongbin smiles as usual as he follows Yoongi in, and behind him, Zitao’s eyes are hidden behind wayfarers as he nods at Kyungsoo.

Before Kyungsoo can ask why all of them are here, Hongbin starts, “Yoongi told us you went to confront Taemin today. How did it go?”

Kyungsoo sighs. He spots Jisoo peeking out of her room. He hesitates, wondering how his friends would react, but then he knows lying to them would be no good. He gestures at Jisoo to come out, and she does, with a very sheepish face.

Jisoo enters the living room and the three visitors stares at her in various levels of question. Zitao, who is sitting on a chair, says, “What? You are suddenly straight now?”

Kyungsoo sighs again. “No. Jisoo, meet my friends, Min Yoongi, Huang Zitao and Lee Hongbin. Guys, this is Kim Jisoo, Taemin got her pregnant.”

Hongbin gasps, Zitao finally takes his shades off and his eyes widen, and Yoongi just says, “The fuck what?”

A long pause follows where everybody keeps sharing glances, processing the information. Jisoo bows at them after she could not take it anymore, and says, “Hello, and yes, it’s true.”

Zitao glances between Jisoo and Kyungsoo. He asks, “Kyungsoo, why is she here?”

Jisoo is close to crying, because she did hear Zitao’s unspoken words loud and clear. So did Kyungsoo, whose jaw hardens as he says in a flat tone, “She is not some slut who drove me and Taemin apart Tao. She is young, Taemin ruined her life and I just wish to help.”

Hongbin stands up and walks up to Jisoo as Yoongi narrows his eyes at Zitao, silently chastising him. He says, “Tao, come on. You know she probably did nothing. I never liked Taemin.”

Hongbin laughs over his shoulder. “Yeah, we know you hated him. And Tao, come on, don’t say such mean things.” He smiles at Jisoo, who tries to smile back. He flashes his dimples as he tells her, “Hey, don’t fear us. Zitao only looks dangerous, and Yoongi may look bored and out of it all the time, but he is okay. You don’t have to be afraid of us. We know Kyungsoo since middle school, we know how huge of a softie he is. And honestly, I feel a little bad for you as well. I would have punched Taemin if I were you.”

Jisoo smiles sincerely now. She finds Hongbin very nice and pleasant, and very cute, what with all those dimples. She feels at ease as she says, “Thank you Hongbin-sshi. I am very sorry for everything.”

Yoongi gets to his feet and faces Jisoo. He says, “I suppose you wanted an abortion? You do know those are illegal, right?”

Jisoo nods. Kyungsoo quickly rushes to her side and throws his arm around her. Jisoo takes a deep breath and says, “I think I should keep the baby.”

Zitao too joins them and smiles kindly at her. “I am sorry for what I said and what I meant. But, say, how old are you?”

Jisoo mumbles, “Twenty-one.”

Hongbin whistles, “Shit, that’s too young.”

“Exactly,” Zitao says. “Have you really thought about it?”

Jisoo looks up at Zitao in panic. Kyungsoo zones on her incoming hysteria, so he immediately grabs her and nudges her towards her bedroom. There he forces her to get on the bed and take a nap. Jisoo mutely lies down on the bed and says nothing as Kyungsoo tucks her in. It is only when he is halfway out of her room, does she say, “Oppa? What do you think?”

Kyungsoo smiles and shakes his head at the way Jisoo hugs Mr Kronk. “I don’t know Jisoo. This is your life, but whatever you decide to do, remember my promise to help you, okay?”

Jisoo nods as Kyungsoo leaves her room. Kyungsoo enters the living space and Yoongi says, “She isn’t an injured puppy you can nurse back to health Soo.”

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “I know Yoongi, I know. But my dick of an ex did do this to her.”

Zitao crosses his arms, “Doesn’t mean you take responsibility for his actions, does it?”

Hongbin hits Zitao on his arm and says, “Oh come on, did you look at her? She is too young for this shit!”

Kyungsoo sighs and runs his fingers through his hair. “She is. She still sleeps with her teddy bear.”


	3. Oh Sehun: The Boy On A Mission

Hongbin, Zitao, Kyungsoo and Yoongi sit down in the living room as Jisoo sleeps. Hongbin sighs at the direction of her room, “Poor girl, she is probably all stressed out.”

Kyungsoo rubs his face and leans back on the sofa. “I found her crying her eyes out on the curb outside Taemin’s house.”

“That bastard kicked her to the curb?” Yoongi shouts. Zitao, on the floor at Yoongi’s feet, smacks him on his knee to quiet him. Yoongi calms down and gnashes his teeth. “I kept saying he was a nasty lowlife. No one listened to me!”

Kyungsoo drags his teeth over his lower lip. He glares at Yoongi. “Can we not talk about your opinions about Taemin right now?”

Zitao frowns at Kyungsoo. “Are you still defending that bastard? He cheated on you and got a poor girl pregnant.”

Hongbin palms his face. He turns to Yoongi and Zitao and says, “Guys, come on he is not defending Taemin. He just doesn’t want to talk about him after everything else.”

Kyungsoo turns his head to look at Hongbin, his heart swelling in gratitude for his best friend. Yoongi and Zitao are his best friends too, but they are assholes seventy per cent of the time, getting on his nerves. Thus, Hongbin’s role as a peacekeeper in their group is greatly appreciated by Kyungsoo. Hongbin sends him a smile, and Kyungsoo makes the tiresome effort of lifting one corner of his lips in response.

Zitao feels ashamed perhaps, so he says, “Okay, I understand. That was a stupid thing to say.”

Yoongi grunts and everyone knows that is his way of saying sorry. “Anyway, what will you do about the girl?”

Kyungsoo had already decided when he saw Jisoo clutching her teddy bear as she curled up on the bed. “I am going to help her.”

Zitao says, “You do remember that abortion is only allowed in this country if the pregnancy is life-threatening or due to rape?”

Kyungsoo nods his head. “I know.”

Yoongi shrugs his shoulder. “Do we know any good criminal lawyer?”

Hongbin frowns at Yoongi, comprehending what course of action Yoongi is hitting on. He says, firmly, “No Min Yoongi, absolutely not. We are not falsely accusing anyone of rape.” Then, he softens his expression and looks at Kyungsoo; he tilts his head to the side. “So…how do you propose to help her?”

Kyungsoo swallows. He knows his friends are not going to like this. “Remember Yixing? Last I heard he was in a hospital in Changsha…” Zhang Yixing is their senior from high school who was always nice to them and would tutor them in science. He still kept in touch with them, all the way from China, where he has his own practice.

Zitao sighs and it is his turn to palm his face. “You want our old friend to do an illegal procedure?”

Yoongi shakes his head. He says, “Okay, I see the practicality in it, but Yixing is a terribly good person and I don’t wish to put him into trouble…Soo, what if she chooses to keep the baby?”

Kyungsoo hardens his jaw. “I will help her then as well.”

Yoongi sighs and falls back on the chair. Zitao picks at the carpet as he shakes his head and mutters under his breath in Mandarin. Hongbin, however, understands Kyungsoo better—he always has—so he covers Kyungsoo’s fist and says, “I get it. She is too young and you cannot help but help her. You always had a heart of gold.”

Yoongi says, “And people take advantage of it.”

Zitao glares up at Kyungsoo. “What if she fucks you over? This isn’t some injured kitten you picked up from the alley. She is going to have a baby, a baby Soo.”

Hongbin shakes his head. “She won’t fuck him over. Have you guys considered that she might be terribly scared right now? She is only twenty-one and pregnant. She cannot go to her parents about this now, can she? Imagine how afraid she is…”

All of them quieten down, even Yoongi looks contemplative. Finally, after some time, Zitao says, “Fine then, count me in. I am not letting you do this alone Soo.”

Hongbin beams at Zitao. He claps his hands, “Well, I want to pitch in too!”

Yoongi drawls, “Well, I guess, I got to help as well, even though she is carrying the spawn of the devil.” Zitao whacks him on his knees again.

Kyungsoo cracks a smile and thinks this is one of those rare thirty per cents where his two friends aren’t _complete_ assholes.

 

A day later, Sehun unlocks the door to an empty apartment. Usually, Jisoo would be there, her books and assignments spread all over their tiny coffee table. But he brushes her absence off, thinking she probably stepped out. Following him, Lee Jaehwan, his cousin, enters. He glances around the apartment and asks, “Where’s Jisoo?”

Sehun shrugs as he throws his bag on the couch. “Probably went out for food, you know she eats like an elephant.”

Jaehwan snorts, he has taken her out for dinner every now and then. He puts his bag down on the floor. He had accompanied his cousin to the trip to their hometown this time. Jaehwan is Sehun’s first cousin on his mother’s side, and sometimes, they take the trip to Icheon-si together to visit their families. Jisoo, too, hails from there. She was invited on this trip, but she denied. The cousins have been close to Jisoo since they were all young, despite the age gap between Sehun and Jaehwan being of six years.

Jaehwan unlaces his sneakers and walks towards the bathroom. Sehun has, meanwhile, planted himself on the couch and is busy browsing through his SNS accounts. Jaehwan steps into the bathroom and is about to turn on the tap to wash his face when his gaze lands on the small wastebasket underneath the sink. His eyes widen when he sees the three plastic packets. He picks them all up and rushes out of the bathroom with a shrill cry of “Sehun!”

Sehun nearly drops his phone to the floor when he hears his cousin squealing. He looks up, his face twisted in concern, when Jaehwan rushes out of the bathroom, waving something white in his hand. Jaehwan pushes his hand towards Sehun and when the latter looks down at them, his eyes go wide as well.

Slowly, Sehun gets to his feet. He takes the three pregnancy home tests in his hands, and his heart thumps when he sees all of them with two pink lines on the oval space. His voice shakes, “What does two lines mean hyung?”

Jaehwan says, equally shocked, “Very, very pregnant. And if these are Jisoo’s test, then that would explain her gone Sehun.” He whips his head around, and without a word, runs into Jisoo’s room. And to confirm his suspicions, he finds the closet half empty and Mr Kronk gone. He returns to Sehun, who is scowling at the tests. He says, his voice faint and laced with panic, “She is gone. No Mr Kronk in her bedroom.”

Sehun’s grip tightens on the tests as he grits his teeth. “Young-ho.”

Jaehwan frowns. “Who’s Young-ho?”

“Her ex.” Sehun puts his jacket back on and stashes the tests in one pocket and his phone in the other. “I know where that fucker lives, come on.”

Jaehwan nods. He silently follows Sehun as his heart drops to his knees. Sweet little Kim Jisoo is too young to be pregnant, and he needs to know why she went missing all of a sudden. Sehun on the other hand, has murder on his mind.

The cab ride to Seo Young-ho’s place is deathly silent. Jaehwan can tell from the stormy expression on his cousin’s face that he is pissed—angry at Jisoo for not telling him and leaving, and angry at this Young-ho fellow for having unprotected sex. He calls Jisoo a few times, and to his surprise her phone is switched off. Dread knocks hard on his conscious. He prays Jisoo isn’t in any trouble.

As soon as they reach Young-ho’s place, Sehun gets out of the cab first, leaving Jaehwan to pay the fare. Jaehwan doesn’t even ask for change because he knows Sehun is on a warpath, and he will destroy everything in his way. He doesn’t want Sehun to break anybody’s bones today. Sehun enters the multi-storied apartment block and takes the stairs to get to the third floor. Jaehwan follows without a word as they walk down a gloomy corridor till they reach the second last door on the floor. Sehun doesn’t knock, he slams the door, and the thing shakes due to his repressed fury. As soon as the door opens, the occupant finds Sehun’s fist in his face. Jaehwan quickly jumps in and pulls Sehun back, before he can go in for the second time.

Jaehwan looks over Sehun’s shoulder to see a tall, young guy clutching his (probably broken) nose. The guy screams, “What the fuck?”

Sehun hollers, “Where is Jisoo you fucker?”

The guy removes his hands from his face and Jaehwan grimaces at the blood dripping down his nose. Jaehwan can safely assume that this man with the obnoxious middle part is Seo Young-ho, who shouts back, “How the fuck am I supposed to know? I haven’t seen her for days!”

Sehun struggles in Jaehwan’s hold, obviously itching to tear through the apartment, looking for Jisoo. He threatens Sehun, “I will punch you if you try anything. This is not how I raised you.” Sehun mumbles, undignified, under his breath as Jaehwan clears his throat, “Excuse me, Young-ho?”

“Call me Johnny bro, I don’t go by that name,” Young-ho, no, Johnny rasps out.

Jaehwan resists the urge to roll his eyes as he talks, “Johnny, hi, we are looking for Jisoo, do you know where she is?”

“She ain’t here bro. As I told this asshole here, I haven’t seen her in weeks!” Johnny says.

Jaehwan nods and smiles. Sehun lashes out. “So where is she huh?” Jaehwan tightens his hold on Sehun.

Johnny wipes the blood off his cupid’s bow and says, “Go ask Jennie, her friend or something.”

Jaehwan tries to be civil. He fails to see what Jisoo saw in this, rather dense, guy. He asks, “And um, where would we find her?”

“Ah yeah, she works in a club. Chaos, can’t miss it, got a big ol’ spider hangin’ on the front.”

“Okay, thank you,” Jaehwan bows and drags Sehun with him. Johnny shouts as they hurry down the stairs, “Hey what about my broken nose you son of a bitch!”

Sehun almost walks back to Johnny’s apartment when Jaehwan smacks him hard on his head. “No more punches, I swear!”

Sehun stops, but he is seething. He thought Jisoo and he were best friends, and yet she chooses to hide when she probably needs him the most. He is so, so angry.

Meanwhile, Jaehwan pulls up Chaos on the search engine on his mobile phone. As he figures out the address, he hails down a cab. He gives the driver the address and the driver gives them a look, as if asking why would two young men want to go to a club at two in the afternoon. Jaehwan chooses not to say anything.

The cab snakes through the city, until they reach Gangnam. The can stops in front of the club, which has its shutters down—it is daytime after all. The cousins walk towards the back, hoping to find someone. They find a tall, handsome man at the back, talking on the phone. He raises his eyebrows when he sees Jaehwan and Sehun approaching, and by the determined look in their eyes, he could tell they are coming over to talk to him. So, he puts the phone down and asks, “Yes, how may I help you?”

Jaehwan smiles. “Hi, um, we are looking for a Jennie.”

“Jennie?” the man asks in surprise. “Jennie Kim? She doesn’t come to work till seven, you gentlemen are five hours too early.” The man smiles, his dimples in display.

Sehun curses as he turns to look at Jaehwan, “Fuck! Now how will we find Jisoo hyung?”

The man gets startled. “Jisoo? Kim Jisoo? Are you looking for her?”

Jaehwan frowns. “You know where she is, Mr, uh…”

“Lee Hongbin,” the man introduces himself. He turns his head around and shouts, “Hey Kyungsoo! Can you come out for once?”

Sehun and Jaehwan share a glance, thoroughly confused glances. A few seconds later, pushing the door open, a short, dark-haired man steps into the concrete yard. Sehun looks at the big lips and big eyes blinking under tortoiseshell glasses, the fluffy grey sweater, and somewhere in the back on his mind he thinks, _cute_.

Lee Hongbin tells to the man named Kyungsoo. “These two gentlemen are looking for Jisoo.”

The picture on the fridge was taken some years previously, when Sehun’s shoulders hadn’t broadened and his face wasn’t this chiselled. So, Kyungsoo doesn’t recognise him. He looks at the two men and says, “Looking for Jisoo?”

Jaehwan steps up, a cautious eye on Sehun’s movements. The door opens again, and a tall man with sunglasses, leather jacket and distressed jeans steps out. He doesn’t join their foray, instead chooses to observe from the distance. Something about him screams _gangster_ and for a minute, Jaehwan feels afraid, very afraid for Jisoo. This feels like some Chinese movie from the 80s, with the back of a club, a handsome man and a dude in a leather jacket. Jaehwan brusquely thinks if leather jacket lights a cigarette, the scene would be complete. He gulps, pushing down the ludicrous thoughts, “Yes, we are looking for her, we are her friends.”

“Oh?” Kyungsoo says, smiling. “She is at my place!”

All this time, Sehun was dazed by how cute this Kyungsoo person was. As soon as those words spill forth his ridiculously plump lips, he is pulled out of his daydreams and anger takes back its rightful place. In the blink of an eye, he moves forward and grabs Kyungsoo by the collar, and cries, “You got her pregnant?”

Before Jaehwan can pull Sehun back, there is a flurry of movement and Sehun is sprawled on his ass on the ground. And top of him stands the gangster guy. The man says, “I know wushu, so be careful you moron.”

Hongbin tuts and pushes the man aside. He pulls Sehun to his feet, who is still very shocked by the turn of events. Jaehwan stands there, shocked as well, still thinking he is in some movie. Hongbin dusts the back of Sehun’s jacket and says, “I am so sorry about that but Zitao is very overprotective about Kyungsoo, and you did try to hit him.” Then he grabs Sehun’s shoulders and smiles, and Sehun thinks this man is too pretty for words. “Now, there has been a terrible misunderstanding.” He moves towards Jaehwan and says, “I didn’t get your names though.”

Jaehwan steps up and says, “I am Lee Jaehwan and this is my cousin, Oh Sehun.”

“Oh Sehun?” Kyungsoo exclaims. “Jisoo talks about you.”

Jaehwan frowns down at Kyungsoo. Before he can formulate his question, the wushu master butts in. He sticks his body between Kyungsoo and Jaehwan, who raises his hands in surrender. The man takes his glasses off and says, “Listen, Kyungsoo here didn’t get him pregnant. He doesn’t do women, okay?”

Kyungsoo pushes Zitao aside and scowls at his friend, like being called gay is more annoying than getting almost punched by Oh Sehun. He bows at Jaehwan and says, “Yes, it is true. I didn’t get her pregnant for your information. I met her yesterday for the first time.”

Sehun frowns, fisting his hands. “So who the fuck—”

“My ex got her pregnant Sehun-sshi,” Kyungsoo interrupts.

Both Sehun and Jaehwan drop their mouths in astonishment.


	4. Oh Sehun: The Sorry State

Jaehwan and Sehun are seated across from Jisoo in Kyungsoo’s living room as the master of the house hovers around unsure in his own space. Sehun is busy glaring holes into Jisoo, who is probably interested in her skirt’s thread count as a small dog rests at her feet, and Jaehwan is glancing between Jisoo and Sehun, opening and closing his mouth, as if uncertain what the right words for this situation is. Kyungsoo understands, there are probably no _What To Do When Your Ex Gets A Girl Pregnant For_ _Dummies_ out there in any bookshop in this world.

The kettle whistles, breaking the tense moment and Kyungsoo hurries towards the kitchen to start making everyone’s teas. He has offered some, and Jaehwan was the only one who answered in affirmative. He quickly prepares three cups of rooibos tea and a cup of chamomile tea for Jisoo (he had been looking up appropriate tea for pregnant women). He brings the tray into the living room, and to his surprise, the three of them are still where they were a few minutes ago. He hands the chamomile to Jisoo, who smiles brightly at him, and the other two cups to the cousins. He sits down on the armrest of Jisoo’s chair and presses her shoulder, silently giving her encouragement.

Sehun zeroes in on the gesture and scowls. He says, “I don’t understand.”

Kyungsoo swallows down the exasperated sigh. He knows where Sehun is going, and he gets a keen sense of déjà vu. He was here, yesterday, convincing three other people about the same thing. Kyungsoo, thus, clears his throat and says, “Because my ex is an asshole and Jisoo doesn’t deserve this.”

Jaehwan takes a sip of his tea as he regards Kyungsoo. He reckons that Kyungsoo might be a year younger than him or so, and the owner of Cloud 9. Jaehwan had been here before on a date, he liked the open bar. So Kyungsoo isn’t some shady character or anything, he looks dependable and nice. Jaehwan says, “I understand.”

Sehun shifts to glare at his cousin. “What the fuck do you understand about this situation hyung?”

Jaehwan presses Sehun’s knee when he sees Jisoo’s lower lip jutting out, a sure-shot sign of her distress. He says, “Kyungsoo has great empathy and Jisoo obviously needed help, so he offered.”

Kyungsoo nods his head and smiles at Jaehwan, who smiles back. Jaehwan then looks at Jisoo, and his heart twists at the plea in her eyes. She wants Sehun to forgive her. He says to his cousin, “Sehun, this is no way Jisoo’s fault.”

Kyungsoo nods, “Yes. Taemin is the one who fucked up.”

Sehun shouts as he flails his hands, “Have you ever heard of condoms?”

Jisoo suddenly bursts into tears. Kyungsoo draws her into a hug and she presses her face on his chest to weep. Jaehwan smacks Sehun on his head and frowns. “Oh Sehun! Now is not the time to say shit like that!”

Jisoo cries into Kyungsoo’s sweater. “I didn’t…it was all so stupid and impulsive…”

Kyungsoo runs his fingers through Jisoo’s hair and tries to quieten her. “Come on now, it’s okay. stress isn’t good for the baby.”

Sehun grits his teeth as he rubs the back of his head smarting from Jaehwan’s smack. “The baby, what about it?”

Jisoo turns her head to the side to look at Sehun. She murmurs, “I am keeping it.”

Jaehwan’s eyebrows rise and Sehun curses something unintelligible under his breath, and Kyungsoo gets a message from Zitao on his phone. As the two men try to absorb the shock of Jisoo’s decision, Kyungsoo reads the message.

**_From: Zitao_   
** _Press charges on the punk._

Kyungsoo chuckles and puts his phone back into his pocket. He notices Jaehwan looking at Jisoo, who is hiding from them in Kyungsoo’s sweater again. Kyungsoo notices kindness and understanding reflected in Jaehwan’s eyes. So Kyungsoo addresses him, “Jaehwan-sshi? We cannot get her an abortion—it is illegal after all—her health could be at risk and we don’t want that. And when the child is born, we can always put him or her up for adoption. I willingly wish to help her, I have enough resources to support her.”

Jaehwan grins, “I know that. But we are her friends, so we won’t abandon her at such a moment.” He pinches Sehun on his thigh, which makes the younger yelp. “And you have my and this brat’s cooperation.”

Sehun says angrily, “My cooperation?” Jaehwan smacks him again, and Sehun shuts up again. His gaze lands on Jisoo who is mutely looking at him with watery eyes.

Jaehwan says, “Kyungsoo-sshi, don’t worry. I will talk to Sehun and then we will talk about the future.” He gets to his feet, dragging Sehun to his feet with him. “This one needs to get sense knocked into him. Jisoo?”

Jisoo raises her head and says, “Oppa?”

Jaehwan smiles and Jisoo feels her heart skipping a beat. “I will be back okay? You are not alone.” He sees her eyeing an angry Sehun warily. Jaehwan chuckles, “Tell me what you want to eat, I will bring you something to eat for dinner—if that is okay with Kyungsoo-sshi.”

Kyungsoo stands up hurriedly and shakes his head, grinning. “No, no, she is your friend, you are welcome to my home.”

Jisoo blushes and murmurs, “I want pizza.”

Jaehwan laughs. “Done.”

Jaehwan smiles and bows at Kyungsoo before dragging Sehun with him towards the entrance. Kyungsoo sees them off at the door. He returns to Jisoo rubbing her face. She looks up at Kyungsoo and says, “I fucked up. Sehun is mad at me, so very mad at me.”

Kyungsoo crouches in front of her and says, “He is your best friend, he isn’t allowed to be mad at you for too long.”

Jisoo hugs her knees and says, “But what if he hates me for this forever?”

Kyungsoo shakes her head. “He won’t.” He drags his teeth over his lower lip as he faintly says, “Jaehwan-sshi though…he is very calm. How old is he?”

Jisoo says, “He is twenty-eight, but he turns twenty-nine in April.”

“Oh? He is a year older me then.”

Jisoo smirks, “Why the interest?”

Kyungsoo flushes and splutters, “What interest?”

“Oh come on, I know oppa is very attractive!”

Kyungsoo’s heart feels light at Jisoo’s smile, so he decides to humour her. He gets to his feet and ruffles her hair, “Yeah he is.”

Jisoo makes fingers guns at him and winks. Kyungsoo laughs.

 

Sehun is taken to the closest open space, which is a small park of sorts with an artificial pond. Jaehwan lets Sehun go, who proceeds to kick an empty cola can, which was lying innocently by a trash can. The can goes flying and narrowly misses an old lady, who spills some colourful words at their direction. Jaehwan winces and bows a million times, apologising profusely.

Sehun doesn’t seems apologetic, still looking at the ground with his eyebrows drawn and his mood sour. He finally speaks, “Why is Jisoo such an idiot?” He grabs his hair by both hands and groans. “Her parents will kill her if they know! And what about her education?”

Jaehwan puts his hands in his pockets and says, “Hey, she can always drop a year and resume things later. And why are you so mad?”

Sehun whips his head around and shouts, “And you aren’t?”

Jaehwan sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. He, then, puts his hands on Sehun’s broad shoulders and says, “Of course I am mad, but not at Jisoo. I am mad at the circumstance. Jisoo doesn’t need you to be mad at her, she needs you to be her best friend and help her. You think she can do this on her own? What would you do if you were her?”

Sehun calms down and his frown melts as he sees his folly. He tries placing himself in Jisoo’s shoes and imagines how she would feel if her best friend abandoned her. He mumbles, “No, she cannot do this on her own. She needs us.”

“Yes.” Jaehwan takes back his hands and puts them back in his pockets. “For now, we need to talk to her and Kyungsoo—”

As he remembers owlish eyes and big lips, Sehun flushes. “And what is that man’s deal?”

Jaehwan presses his lips. “There are few people on this earth who are truly kind without any intentions—I think Do Kyungsoo is one of them.”

Sehun nods. Usually, Jaehwan is better at reading people than he is. However, he has an issue. “But…”

“But?”

“I don’t feel right letting Jisoo stay all alone with the man,” Sehun waves his hands in an agitated manner. “I mean, he is a stranger!”

Jaehwan crosses his arms and scowls. In a jesting manner he suggests, “So what do you want to do? Move in with them?”

Sehun smiles and his eyes twinkle. “Hyung, that’s actually a very good idea.”

Jaehwan gapes at first, then he sees the glee and mischief in Sehun’s eyes, and he sighs as he palms his face.

 

After Sehun and Jaehwan left, Kyungsoo heads upstairs. He owns a restaurant, he needs to be there and not fuss over Jisoo all day long. When he enters his office, to his surprise, he finds his two tallest employees, and long-time friends, lounging in his office. He says, “Why are you guys taking a break in my office of all places?”

Chanyeol, his best chef, stretches his legs, and says, “We are not taking a break, we were waiting for you.”

Yifan, his best bartender, yawns. “My shift doesn’t even start before six, but here I am, waiting for you.”

Kyungsoo takes his seat at his desk and eyes his friends. He warily says, “I hope you aren’t here to raise your salaries.”

Chanyeol scoffs, “I am not that greedy Soo.”

Yifan, however, grins, “Would you raise our salaries if we asked?”

“No,” Kyungsoo says with a very straight and serious face.

Yifan wipes a non-existent tear. “Here I was thinking of buying Myeonie something fancy for his birthday.”

Kyungsoo frowns. “Oh, shut up and get to the point.”

Chanyeol leans forward, his elbows on his knees. “Who is the young girl in your apartment?”

Kyungsoo jumps. He had thought he had been able to carefully hide Jisoo from curious glances—but apparently, he hasn’t. He sighs and says, “Taemin got her pregnant.”

Yifan sits up straight and says, his thick brows drawn together. “Wait, what? Why are you hiding the girl that got impregnated by your boyfriend?”

Kyungsoo points his finger to the ceiling and says, “First, he is my ex-boyfriend now. Second, no, she didn’t break us up, I already knew he was cheating on me. And third, Taemin doesn’t want anything to do with her, so I offered to help.”

Chanyeol scoffs. “So, that’s why. I was wondering if you had suddenly turned straight or something.”

Kyungsoo shakes his head. “Really, why is everyone jumping straight to my sexuality every time they are asking about Jisoo?”

Chanyeol and Yifan chuckle, but then Yifan’s face turns all serious. “So, the kid is Taemin’s and you are helping…with what?”

Kyungsoo clasps his fingers and puts them on the desk. “She wishes to put the child up for adoption after he or she is born. She believes she isn’t ready for motherhood.”

Chanyeol nods as Yifan asks, “You are ready with a lawyer, right?” When Kyungsoo shakes his head, he continues, “Okay, I will ask Junmyeon if he can help you with that.”

There is a knock on the door and the door opens to Kyungsoo’s other best chef, Kim Seokjin, glaring at Chanyeol. “You think I can cook for so many people on my own? Get your ass back in the kitchen!”

Chanyeol presses his lips and gets to his feet. He looks back at Kyungsoo and says, “Hey, don’t worry, okay?”

Kyungsoo smiles at his friend as he leaves. Meanwhile, Yifan yawns again, “Chanyeol dragged me here, so I am going to head home and talk to my husband.”

As Yifan walks towards the door, Kyungsoo says, “Hey, thanks, you know.”

Yifan smiles kindly at Kyungsoo, “No problem.”

Kyungsoo grins, “And can you send Seokjin in?”

Yifan makes a face and says, “Yes, boss.”

Kyungsoo is, eventually, alone in his office and he feels warm inside out from all the support he is getting from his friends. It makes him happy that he has people who care for him around him. Seokjin enters after some time, and he starts talking about work with him, and they stay like this for a while.

Finally, after close to an hour, Zitao enters his office without knocking, and when his eyes land on Seokjin, he grins. Kyungsoo wonders why, and then he realises Seokjin is blushing. He raises an eyebrow in question, but says nothing. Seokjin gets to his feet and bows at Kyungsoo, “I will see to it that what you said is done. Good day boss.”

Seokjin hurries out without a second glance. Zitao tells Kyungsoo, “One sec!”, and follows Seokjin out of his office. Kyungsoo remains utterly confused at their behaviour. What is going on?

After a few minutes, Zitao returns with a triumphant look on his face. He sits down on the chair Seokjin vacated and keeps grinning like an idiot. Kyungsoo, finally, snaps, his curiosity not being able to take it anymore, “What just happened?”

Zitao says, grin in place, “Well, I just asked Seokjin out and he said yes.”

Kyungsoo’s mouth drops in surprise. “Seokjin? And you? What?”

Zitao leans back and says, hands clasped over his belly, “Well, I initially approached him because have you seen that face? He has such beautiful lips.” He drags his teeth over his lower lip, his eyes narrowed as if thinking what he wanted to do with Seokjin’s lips (Kyungsoo grimaces). “I wanted to draw him, so I asked him if he would model for me. At first, he thought I meant sketching him in the nude, so he refused, calling me a pervert and everything. But then I cleared things up and asked to just draw his face from various angles, and he agreed to that. He is kind of vain, but kind of adorable. And gosh, his jokes are lame, but the way he laughs at them...” Zitao sighs and he looks dreamy and foolish. “But long story short, after filling two whole sketchbooks with his face, I have decided to marry him. He doesn’t know that yet, so, yeah, don’t tell him.”

Kyungsoo rubs his temple as he soaks in all the information. His head swims and he says, “How long has this been happening?”

Zitao pulls his lips down as he thinks. After a pause of a couple of seconds, he says, “About a month?”

“Oh my god,” Kyungsoo palms his face. He glares at Zitao, “You better not do anything stupid, I refuse to lose someone like Seokjin—my restaurant _needs_ him.”

Zitao puts his hands up, palms facing out. “Relax, I genuinely like him—he doesn’t believe me though…but he will come around.”

Kyungsoo, though, writes an advertisement for employment in his head, should he end up replacing Seokjin in the future because Huang Zitao, playboy and heartbreaker, had decided to fall for his employee.

 

As promised, Jaehwan returns to Kyungsoo’s place somewhere after seven with two pizza boxes and garlic bread. He even buys Jisoo’s favourite ice cream as an afterthought. Sehun is far more calm now, and he is ready to apologise to Jisoo for his behaviour in the morning.  He rings the bell and to his surprise, wushu/gangster man opens the door. Sehun widens his eyes in fear, he doesn’t want to be knocked to the ground again; Zitao on the other hand simply raises his eyebrow and moves aside to let them in. Sehun cautiously sidesteps and enters while Jaehwan bows to Zitao and says, “I am Lee Jaehwan. Sorry for this morning.”

Zitao waves his hand. “Huang Zitao, and that’s okay. I did tell Kyungsoo to press charges, but,” he glares down at Sehun, who suppresses his shiver at the sharp glare, “You are lucky he is too sweet.”

Jaehwan nervously chuckles. “Well, my brother here has poor control over his anger.” He stares at Sehun, mentally screaming at him to apologise to Zitao.

Sehun catches Jaehwan looking suggestively at him, and he bows ninety degrees and says, “I am very sorry for my actions.”

Zitao crosses his arms and smirks, “You better be.” He claps Sehun’s back, and the younger tries to not flinch. “Come on, Kyungsoo and Jisoo are waiting for you.”

Zitao leads them to the kitchen-cum-dining space, where Kyungsoo is in an apron in his freshly washed hair preparing tea. He looks up and smiles at his guest, and Sehun, despite himself, finds his heart stuttering at the heart-shaped grin and the fluffy towel-dried hair sweeping over the rim of his glasses. He bows at Kyungsoo and says sheepishly, “I am very sorry for what I did.”

Kyungsoo walks up to him, and he has to crane his neck when Sehun straightens. Sehun finds Kyungsoo way shorter than him when the latter gently grasps his elbow and says, “It’s okay, I think I would have reacted the same way if I were you.”

Jaehwan hands Kyungsoo the packets of food and says, his eyes flitting all over the prim kitchen, “Where’s Jisoo?”

“She is in her room,” Kyungsoo says as he puts the ice cream away in the freezer. “Do you want me to call her?”

Jaehwan shakes his head. “No, I will go call her.”

“Second room on the left down the corridor.”

Jaehwan pinches Sehun’s elbow. “You come with me, and you are going to apologise.”

Sehun dips his head in shame, and without realising, his eyes meet Kyungsoo, who smiles at him in encouragement. Sehun is amazed by that, but he says nothing as he lets Jaehwan drag him away.

When they leave the kitchen, Zitao chuckles, “The cousin duo are kind of hot, aren’t they?”

Kyungsoo frowns as he opens the pizza boxes. However, he finds himself mentally agreeing to what Zitao said. He tries to hide his blush at the way Jaehwan smiled at him though. But Zitao can be very observant when he wants to be, so he whistles, and says in an amused voice, “Are you blushing Soo?”

Kyungsoo throws a packet of seasoning at Zitao and growls, “Shut up.”

“Oh,” Zitao laughs. “Wait, let me guess, it’s the older, right? I mean the younger is handsome and all, but he looks like he still drinks out of a feeding bottle or something, despite being so tall…”

Kyungsoo clenches his teeth and hisses, “Can you shut up?”

Zitao shuts up, but the mischievous gleam in his eyes do not vanish, much to Kyungsoo’s embarrassment.

 

Jaehwan and Sehun stand in front of the door to Jisoo’s room, and they can hear her playing some sad song from the other side of the door.

Sehun palms his face when he recognises the song. He whispers, “That’s _Time After Time_ she is listening to. She always listens to it when she feels sad.”

Jaehwan bites his lips as he jams his hands deep into the pocket of his trench coat. He looks over at Sehun’s sad, remorseful face. He whispers back, “Fine, let me talk to her first, okay?”

Sehun rubs his face and nods his head. Jaehwan knocks on the door and when he hears Jisoo allowing entrance in a small voice, he pushes the door open. Biscuits, who was with Jisoo all this time, walks out of the door, briefly regarding Jaehwan and Sehun. The younger drops to his knees to pet the dog as Jaehwan enters the room. He finds Jisoo curled up on the bed with Mr Kronk pressed close to her chest as Cyndi Lauper croons from her phone on the bedside table. Jisoo raises her head, sits up and a smile slowly forms on her face. Jaehwan walks up to her and sits down on the bed. He takes time to look at Jisoo properly, and it hurts him when he sees no sign of the cheerful girl he knows. He shakes his head and sighs. His gaze lands on the stuffed bear on her lap and he chuckles, “Can’t believe you still have that thing.”

Jisoo smiles, “I would never, ever throw him away!”

Jaehwan smiles back, “How old were you when I gave this to you? Eleven or twelve?”

Jisoo scrunches her face and pouts, “I was eleven oppa! How can you forget?”

Jaehwan leans back, placing his hands on the bed. “So, it has been ten years since you had Mr Kronk?”

“Yep,” Jisoo nods. Cyndi Lauper stops singing and a silence lulls between them. Jisoo takes this moment to quietly look at Jaehwan, her crush for the longest time.

Maybe it happened when she was thirteen that she realised she might have liked Jaehwan more than a friend. And as she grew older, this feeling grew and grew and now it takes up all the space in her heart and soul. The one reason she let Taemin seduce her because she wanted to forget the fact that Jaehwan will never look at her the way she looks at him. He will always regard her as the best friend of his younger cousin, and keep caring for her, but never see her as anything more. Thus, she could never throw Mr Kronk away. The blue bear is her replacement for the man she cannot call her own.

And it is also unfair how handsome he got over the years. He will be thirty next year, and Jisoo hates how sexy and mature he looks while she looks a kid beside him. That is also why she threw herself at Taemin. She isn’t sure who she hates more now, herself or Jaehwan.

Suddenly Jaehwan speaks up, “Sehun is sorry you know. He reacted badly, but he has come around. And as for me, I am here for you.” He sits up straight and pats her head.

Jisoo juts her lower lip out and wants to cry. Why is Jaehwan so awesome? He sweetly smiles down at her and she presses her head on his shoulder and mumbles, “Thank you.”

Jaehwan smiles into her hair and he wants to pull her closer, but he stomps that urge down. He says, “Should I send Sehun in? He is waiting outside.”

Jisoo nods her head and sits back. Jaehwan stands up and walks to the door. He opens the door and calls Sehun, who enters as Jaehwan steps around him. Jaehwan leaves the two best friends alone, and closes the door behind him.

Sehun and Jisoo look at each other with matching grumpy faces for a few seconds. Breaking the silence, Sehun says, “You are such an idiot.”

“So are you,” Jisoo scoffs.

“I hate you.”

“Same.”

Jisoo jumps down from the bed and walks up to Sehun to hug him, who easily wraps his arms around her. He says, “Do you know how worried I was when I got home today?”

Jisoo mumbles into his shirt, “I am sorry, I freaked out.”

“You freaked me out.”

“I am sorry for that too.”

“Don’t,” Sehun pushes Jisoo away and cups her face. He peers into her eyes and says, “I am sorry for behaving like a douchebag and getting mad at you. It’s just, I wasn’t ready for you to get pregnant, at least not for the next few years or so.”

“Ready for me to get pregnant?” Jisoo asks, greatly confused.

“Well, I had to prepare myself to become the greatest uncle ever, right?” Sehun grins.

Jisoo grins back at him as for the first time in the last few days, her heart feels lighter and she giggles. Sehun is not mad at her, and he is obviously trying to make this situation a little less serious. She cuffs Sehun’s arm before saying, “I don’t believe you!”

Sehun pulls her into a bone-crushing hug again as he joins in her laughter.

 

Jaehwan, Zitao and Kyungsoo are sipping tea in the living room when they hear muffled laughter coming from Jisoo’s room and Jaehwan relaxes, his shoulder slumping down. Kyungsoo smiles, “I guess they are okay now.”

Jaehwan nods. “Yes, seems like it.”

Jisoo and Sehun emerge from her room. Kyungsoo leaves his seat for Jisoo while Jaehwan makes space for Sehun on the couch. Kyungsoo asks Jisoo, “Are you hungry now?”

“Starving!” Jisoo replies with a big smile.

Jaehwan chuckles, “I got your favourite pizzas.”

Jisoo’s eyes gleam in excitement (even Zitao coos at her cuteness, internally of course). “Pepperoni and four cheese?”

Sehun nods. “He even got your favourite ice cream flavour. Why does he spoil you more than he spoils me?”

Jaehwan smacks Sehun for the nth time today. “Because you are a brat!”

Sehun pouts and rubs the back of his head. He wonders if he has a dent in his skull by now due to getting smacked by Jaehwan for the last twenty-one years.

Kyungsoo watches Sehun, Jaehwan and Jisoo talk amongst them for a while, and he thinks. He gets to his feet and clears his throat. “Zitao, could you see if the pizzas need reheating or not?”

Zitao gets to his feet and says, “Sure.”

When he leaves, Kyungsoo takes his time to compose what he wanted to say. After a few seconds, he looks at Jaehwan and Sehun, and says, “I was wondering if one of you could stay with Jisoo, here, in my home.”

Jaehwan gasps and looks over at Sehun, who smirks. The younger says, “I can stay, hyung has work.”

Kyungsoo beams, “Great! I spend most of my time in the office, so Jisoo would be all alone. I would be very grateful if you would.”

“Gladly Kyungsoo-sshi,” Sehun smiles as Jaehwan tries to process the fact.

Kyungsoo leaves to get their food ready; and Jisoo narrows her eyes at Sehun, and says, “I noticed that look on your face, why did you make that face?”

Jaehwan answers, “Because he had every intention to come stay with you. Apparently, he doesn’t trust Kyungsoo-sshi.”

Jisoo groans, “What the fuck? Kyungsoo-oppa is the nicest person on earth! I don’t need a bodyguard!”

Sehun says, “But he is right! Who will look after you when he works?”

Jisoo just grumbles in defeat.


	5. Lee Jaehwan: The Struggle of Being Perfect

Oh Sehun shows up bright and early the next day with his luggage. Jisoo gives him the stink-eye as Kyungsoo helps Sehun settle in. He gets the room beside Jisoo with the nice ebony four poster bed and light grey wallpaper. Sehun plops down on the bed and sighs, “So soft.”

Kyungsoo had left for his work as soon as he could, so Jisoo and Sehun are the only ones in his home. Jisoo leans against the doorframe and chuckles, “He has nice mattresses.”

“We should buy nice mattresses,” Sehun says as he crawls up and puts a pillow under his head. “Kyungsoo-sshi has a nice house.”

“Yup,” Jisoo sits down on the bed and nods her head. “He is really nice too.”

Sehun takes a deep breath, and to his delight, the pillowcase smells like lavender. He murmurs, “I mean if I was him, I would have kicked you out.”

Jisoo pouts, “I would have kicked me out too if I was him.” She lies down beside Sehun and puts her hand on her flat stomach. She knows she will start showing soon as she pats her belly, a little amazed that a tiny human is growing inside of her. Even though she hates Taemin for getting her pregnant, and that the foetus carries half of his DNA, it also carries half of her and it makes her smile. This is all her own, fuck Taemin. The small being now growing inside of her is all her own, her own flesh and blood. She feels a tad bit emotional.

Sehun opens one eye to see Jisoo rubbing her belly with a strange, soft smile on her face, and with misty eyes. He whispers, “You are pregnant, huh.”

Jisoo grins as she pats her belly. “Kind of amazing, right?”

“Are you sure you want to give the baby up?”

Jisoo opens her mouth to say yes, but then she hesitates. She turns her head to look at Sehun, who is looking at her without judgement or anger, just silently saying that he is here for her either way. She swallows down the knot of guilt tying her voice up. She touches her belly and whispers, “I don’t know.”

Sehun says nothing as he hugs her and they end up cuddling with Jisoo sniffling into his collar. His phone rings suddenly, and he fishes it out of the back pocket of his denims. “Hello hyung,” Sehun says to his cousin, who called.

“Hey, so I talked with my friend, he has fixed an appointment at three today,” Jaehwan says.

“Okay.”

“I will be there. Be on time, okay?”

“Okay.”

“And tell Kyungsoo too.”

“Eh, wh—”

“Just do what I say.”

“Okay,” Sehun rolls his eyes. He disconnects the call and finds Jisoo looking up at him with a frown. He says, “Jaehwan got his doctor friend to fix an appointment for you. It’s in the afternoon.”

Jisoo gets up and nods. “Okay, we should tell oppa.”

Sehun nods. “I am kind of hungry, do you think he will feed me?”

Jisoo laughs, “You just have to say you are hungry!”

Jisoo shows Sehun the way up, and she tentatively knocks on Kyungsoo’s office door. She opens the door when she hears a loud, “It’s open!”

Kyungsoo was busy trying to get hold of the lawyer Yifan recommended, but his frowns melts when he sees Jisoo entering his office with Sehun in tow. Sehun looks around his office while Jisoo quietly takes a seat across Kyungsoo. She says, “Oppa, Jaehwan-oppa fixed the doctor’s appointment. The doctor is his friend.”

“Oh?” Kyungsoo says. “That’s good. I have found a lawyer who can help us with the adoption as well.”

Jisoo tries to smile as her hand instinctively flies to touch her belly. Both Sehun and Kyungsoo note her reaction, and the two men share a knowing glance. Sehun nods and puts a finger on his lips, as if asking Kyungsoo to not say anything to Jisoo yet. Kyungsoo nods and instead, says, “Did you guys have anything to eat?”

Sehun grins. “Nope.”

Kyungsoo nods as he clicks his tongue. He picks up the phone on his desk and taps in a number. He says into the receiver, “Who is this? Oh, Jungkook, can you come to my office please?”

A couple of minutes later, a tall man with light brown hair enters Kyungsoo’s office. The man bows, “Yes sir?”

Kyungsoo says, “Take Sehun and Jisoo to the dining hall, and get Chanyeol to make them breakfast, okay?”

“Okay.” The man looks at Sehun and Jisoo, and wonders how much gossip will this lead to. He bows at them and waves his hand towards the door, “This way?” He, then, politely steps outside, with his ears trained at the door of course.

Jisoo gets up and shares a suggestive glance with her best friend. Then she turns around to see Kyungsoo picking up his phone again. She asks, “Won’t you join us?”

“I will, just, I need to get in touch with this man,” Kyungsoo grumbles. “Yifan said the man is tied up to a very good, reputable adoption agency.”

Jisoo shakes her head, “I don’t understand, shouldn’t you have an assistant or something?”

Kyungsoo groans and palms his face, “I know.”

Jisoo grins as she side-eyes Sehun, who is busy smiling at a photograph on the wall. She gets an idea. “You can hire Sehun to be your assistant.”

Both Sehun and Kyungsoo end up saying “What?” at the same time. Jisoo covers her mouth to hide her grin and says, “It’s only fair.”

Kyungsoo frowns, “No, he is here to take care of you.”

Jisoo rolls her eyes, “Seriously oppa? I will be right below this floor, I will be fine. Also, he will have nothing else to do around here.”

Sehun finally finds his voice and says, “Hey, I have classes tomorrow you know.”

Jisoo shrugs, “So?”

Kyungsoo looks at Sehun, Jisoo’s idea becoming more and more reasonable as he thinks about it. He says as he locks his gaze with Sehun’s, “That’s actually not a terrible idea. I mean, you can come help after classes. And it’s not like you need to be here all the time. I will pay you for part-time?” Then Kyungsoo grins, “I mean your lodgings are free.”

Sehun scratches his neck as he wills his heart to not flip-flop at the _seriously_ cute smile. Like, just how, a full-grown adult male look this adorable when he grins? Sehun is miffed, yet he finds himself nodding to Kyungsoo’s suggestion. It won’t be that hard, really, especially with how he has far less classes in his senior year; and a little income on the side never hurt anybody. Yeah, that is the only reason why he is agreeing, and it is definitely not because Kyungsoo is _too cute_.

Then there is Jungkook outside, who is grinning from ear to ear. This will set the gossip vine in Cloud 9 ablaze!

(Thus, when Yifan hears it from the bar manager, Seunghyun, who heard it from Taeyong, who heard it from Jungkook that Kyungsoo has got Jisoo pregnant and Sehun is her boyfriend who will be Kyungsoo’s new assistant of all things, and they are all living together in some strange ménage trois, the taller bartender could only laugh till there were tears in the corners of his eyes. And then he proceeds to send a text Chanyeol with enough laughing emojis.)

 

As the afternoon rolls in, Jisoo fidgets with the hem of her loose t-shirt. Kyungsoo and Sehun are getting ready as Jisoo sits in the living room with Biscuits dozing in her lap. They are going to one Dr Kim, who is a friend of a friend of Jaehwan’s, but Jaehwan vouched for his professionalism and ability.

The three of them get into Kyungsoo’s car, after much struggle on Jisoo’s part since Biscuits was quite enjoying his little afternoon nap, all curled up in her lap. The journey to the hospital is spent in some small talk, mostly between Sehun and Kyungsoo about their respective colleges.

Soon, ten minutes before three, they arrive in front of the hospital. Sehun spots his cousin shifting from one foot to another in front of the entrance. Jaehwan waves them over with a grin. Jisoo tries not to cry at how handsome he looked in his suit and white shirt. He must have taken a break from his work, or spending his lunch break accompanying his cousin’s pregnant best friend to her first ultrasound, Jisoo bitterly muses.

Kyungsoo helps her down from the car, and gives her a reassuring smile. She finds no reassurance from it, even though she wishes she did.

Jaehwan escorts them inside, Sehun falls behind Kyungsoo who has a steady arm on the small of Jisoo’s back, as if he can sense her nervousness and fear. Maybe he does, and then she ponders at the absurdity of her best friend, his cousin and her crush, and the ex-boyfriend of the man who got her pregnant, following her to the scariest appointment of her life.

They step through a transparent sliding door, and the sight of other pregnant women sitting in rows scares Jisoo some more. She nearly steps back, but Kyungsoo gently grabs her elbow. Jaehwan chooses that moment to turn around and grab her hand (Jisoo’s heartbeat rockets and she isn’t too sure why that happens—is it the other women in the waiting room silently judging her or is it the fact that Jaehwan is holding her hand? It could be both). Kyungsoo relents as Jaehwan drags her along.

Down the corridor they go, with Sehun and Kyungsoo following along like grim sentinels. Finally, they stop in front of an office with the nameplate Dr Kim Minseok, OB/GYN. So, here it goes. Jisoo takes a deep, deep breath as Jaehwan knocks on the door. A soft yet masculine voice says, “Come in.”

Jaehwan opens the door and smiles at the short man sitting at his desk, “Hey Minseok-hyung.”

The doctor smiles, his gums showing as he pushes his round spectacles up his nose, “Hello Jaehwan, so where’s my patient?”

Jaehwan pushes Jisoo in, gently, and steps beside her, his hand still holding hers. Kyungsoo and Sehun enter and Minseok raises an eyebrow, and grins, “So, uh, which one of you is the father?”

Jisoo groans and palms her face as Sehun guffaws. Jaehwan smacks Sehun on his shoulder and says, “Um, none of us actually.”

“Oh?” Minseok’s voice is now clouded in confusion as he sweeps his glance over the shorter man and then the taller one.

Kyungsoo moves forward and bows, “Sorry, Dr Kim, but uh, the father is not present here. We are all her friends.”

Minseok, this time, raises both of his eyebrows. He observes Jisoo for a while, before carefully asking, “Jisoo, right?” When the girl nods, he continues, “How old are you?”

“Twenty-one, Dr Kim,” Jisoo replies in a low voice with her eyes trained to the floor.

Minseok walks around his desk and smiles at Jisoo, “I won’t judge, I am simply here to help you, though I am relieved to know you are not a minor.”

Jisoo looks up and a weak attempt at smile convinces Minseok to pat her shoulder, as if telling her it is going to be okay. The doctor looks at the men behind her and says, “Okay, so, do all of you wish to stay?”

There is no discussion about it as all three men nod their heads at the same time. Minseok laughs, and then his eyes twinkle in amusement as he looks at Jisoo, “You are lucky to have such good friends Jisoo-sshi.” Jisoo promptly flushes in embarrassment.

First, he takes some of her blood, checks her blood pressure, and finally he ushers her (with the three men following) to the room where her ultrasound will take place.

A nurse, with a neatly tied bun and a small nose, enters, and is slightly taken aback at the presence of the three men with brooding, serious faces and the young girl on the bed. She silently communicates with Minseok, who simply smiles and shakes his head. She gets to work when he says, “Hua, the gel?”

Hua, the nurse, motions at Jisoo to push up her t-shirt, which the girl does. Then, the older woman squirts some gel, which is cold and makes Jisoo hiss. Minseok smiles, “Okay, now I will take,” he shows her a wand-like thing attached to a machine, “The transducer over your stomach to do a number of things, like confirm your estimated due date, confirm your baby’s heartbeat, make sure the pregnancy is taking place in the uterus, and determine how many foetuses you are carrying. Okay?”

Jisoo nods, and swallows. Her hand instinctively shoots out towards Jaehwan, who quickly grabs it. Hua watches it with some amusement. Minseok brings the wand over Jisoo’s flat stomach and moves it around with his eyes fixed on the monitor. Grainy, black and white images are all what Jisoo sees. Kyungsoo and Sehun lean closer in interest as well.

Minseok smiles, “Okay, you are eight weeks along, so I put your due date somewhere at…”

Hua looks at the monitor and says, “August 20?”

Minseok nods, “Yes, however this could very well change.”

Jisoo asks in alarm, “Change?”

“Well, you see, it depends on the foetus, he or she may want to arrive early or late.”

“Oh,” Jisoo sighs and Jaehwan squeezes her hand.

Minseok peers closer at the blurry image and says, “So far I see one foetus, and looks like you are having a healthy uterine pregnancy.” He whips his head and addresses Hua, “Would you turn on the sound? I think we can hear his or her heartbeat.” When he hears the loud gasp emitted by Jisoo, he turns to her kindly and says, “Would you like to hear the heartbeat of your child?”

Jisoo is stunned, but she nods her head. Hua tinkles with something on the machine and soon there is faint _ba-dum-thump_ sound resounding in the room. Minseok and Hua share a smile as they see the stupefied expressions on everyone’s faces. The doctor and nurse have seen enough people in this room, but every time they see the flabbergasted faces of expectant parents, it never fails to make them smile.

Sehun has his mouth wide open; Kyungsoo has clapped a hand over his mouth; Jaehwan has his eyes widened; and Jisoo starts crying as hears the heartbeats, her baby’s heartbeat. Something tugs inside her, and she whimpers. She feels a hand on her head and realises it is Jaehwan who is looking at her with something unreadable in his eyes. Sehun, finally, whispers, “So cool.”

Minseok lightly chuckles, “Would you like a print-out?”

Jisoo nods her head vigorously. Hua smiles as she hands her a small rectangular picture, pointing out a specific portion, “And that’s your baby.”

Jisoo cries some more as she stares at the blurry, undefined spot, but somehow, she _knows_ that the strange little picture is her baby. The three men all huddle closer to check the picture out, and Sehun had to break everyone’s silent amazement by saying, “Eh? That looks like a potato?”

Kyungsoo scoffs, while Jaehwan cuffs his cousin again. Jisoo just glares at her friend. Hua wipes off the gel from Jisoo’s stomach and helps her get to her feet. It is only when Jisoo moves her hand to pull down her t-shirt does she remember that her other hand is still in Jaehwan’s warm, firm grasp. Her cheeks colour and she waits for Jaehwan to loosen his grip, but he doesn’t. They are still holding hands when they return to Minseok’s office. Jisoo tries (and fails) to not think too much about it.

 

After the four of them leave his office, having fixed another appointment tomorrow, Hua rests her elbows on Minseok’s shoulder and asks, “What was that about? Of all the people that have come here, those four were the strangest.”

Minseok grabs Hua’s wrist and smiles at his girlfriend, “Don’t worry, I will wheedle the whole story out of Jaehwan soon.”

Suddenly Hua hits him on the shoulder, not too harshly as she scowls, “And next time, introduce me! I have heard of Jaehwan from Taekwoon and you don’t even care to introduce me! I am offended Dr Kim Minseok!”

Minseok rubs his hands together as he grins and bows his head, “Yes, nurse Lu Hua!”

 

Jaehwan heads back for his office as Jisoo, Kyungsoo and Sehun head back home. The ride is back is silent, occasionally dotted by Jisoo’s low sniffles, who’s clutching the print out in her lap. Sehun glances behind and one look at Jisoo’s teary face makes his heart twist uncomfortably. He pulls out his phone and quickly sends a text to Jaehwan. He knows his cousin will know what to do. Jisoo and Sehun have been friends for a long time, however, Sehun isn’t blind to know that Jaehwan is much better at handling Jisoo when she is upset, and he also knows that Jisoo listens better to Jaehwan than him. His phone buzzes with a text, and he smiles when he reads it.

At a stop sign, he leans closer to Kyungsoo and whispers, “I asked Jaehwan-hyung to take Jisoo out for dinner.”

Kyungsoo was busy staring at the traffic lights, so when Sehun closes in like that and whispers, he squeals, and turns his head around, only to be gazing directly into Sehun’s face, which is way too close for his comfort.

Sehun is taken aback when he realises his face is too close to Kyungsoo’s, but up close like this he realises Kyungsoo has faint acne scars on his jaw and his eyes are beautiful and Sehun cannot look away. Their gazes meet, and Kyungsoo bites back a gasp, and Sehun’s eyes zooms in the lip bite, and he takes a staggering breath.

Kyungsoo doesn’t know why he feels strange under Sehun’s gaze, but he does and he waits for the other to break away first. Sehun has freckles, and really smooth skin and his lips are too pink, and Kyungsoo cannot fathom why he was etching all that to memory. Sehun is terribly good-looking, so this feels like a reminder, as if Kyungsoo’s conscious needed the reminder.

A loud honk behind them finally leads them to look away. Sehun coughs and Kyungsoo’s hand shakes as he tries to restart the car. Jisoo is still sobbing in the backseat, and her soft sobs remind Kyungsoo what Sehun said, so he nods his head and replies, “That sounds great, she needs some distraction, I suppose.”

Again, the journey is shrouded in silence as Kyungsoo reels from the realisation of Sehun’s obvious attractiveness, and Sehun is freaking out how much he wanted to maybe, perhaps, kiss those lips.

 

Jisoo did not want to go out, since she knows her eyes are puffy from all the crying (Sehun wonders if pregnancy equals to malfunctioning tear ducts). However, Kyungsoo and Sehun manage to force her out of the bed and into a nice white dress by the time the clock strike thirty minutes past seven and Jaehwan shows up. Jisoo had grumbled all along, and nearly cut herself while shaving her legs. She was deciding on accessories when Jaehwan showed up.

Jaehwan is still in his suit, minus the jacket and tie. Jisoo quickly ties up her hair in ponytail and dabs some perfume under her ears, bypassing accessories since she has no time for that. She slips on a comfortable pair of flats and greets Jaehwan, who is in the kitchen drinking water and talking to Kyungsoo. The shorter grins when he sees her, “Oh my, you look so nice!”

Jisoo blushes and scoffs, “Yeah right…”

Jaehwan, who has been silent, clears his throat, “Nah Jisoo, you really do look nice.” He doesn’t fathom why his stomach feels funny when he looks at Jisoo in the soft, cotton white dress with lace at the sleeves and necks, and with her dark hair neatly pulled away from her face. A few errant strands frame her face, and he knows it is not intentional. Her lips are a soft beige pink, and he cannot help but think how beautiful Jisoo is.

Then he feels like slapping himself when he realises where his thoughts were wandering to. Jisoo is his younger cousin’s best friend, and he has literally seen her in her diapers. He may occasionally chide her like an older brother, but he is also acutely aware how well she has grown up—and sometimes the two parts of Lee Jaehwan struggles between being just a friend and being something more.

He puts the glass down and smiles, “So, ready to go?”

Biscuits bounds into the room and as Kyungsoo picks him up, Jisoo smiles sweetly, “Yes.”

Jaehwan gulps again.

 

Later that night when Jisoo returns from dinner, and is curled on the bed with Biscuits softly snoring at her feet, she keeps replaying certain moments from the dinner. Like when Jaehwan held her elbows as they crossed the street, or when he fed her his portion of the dumplings, or when he wiped her chin when she smeared ice cream all over it, or his laughter when he was wiping the chocolate ice cream. And then there was the moment when Jaehwan told her again that she looked really pretty, or the moment when she cried a little and told her how she was feeling and he said nothing, just tucked her head underneath his chin and assured her that he was going to help her no matter what she chooses to do.

So, now, she wonders if her crush is becoming more than just a silly crush. Then she caresses her belly and ruefully wonders how timing’s a bitch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that ninja Xiuhan tho....XD

**Author's Note:**

> so yeah, I cannot decide if I ship Taohun more or Sesoo more. But I decided to write this anyway! Please let me know if you would like to read more of this craziness since I am not too sure about this fic. Thank you!


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